Spanish Saffron, Persian Saffron, 1g or 4.6g? Which is better? Now you need to learn

Spanish saffron, Persian Saffron Which is better ? Now you need to learn

Let’s begin – what is Saffron and where did it come from?

Saffron is the filaments from the Crocus Sativus Plant, it is the most expensive plant (per gram) in the world.  Each purple flower only produces 3 filaments which can make you begin to understand the arduous and labour intensive farming process.  Farmers in England in recent years have successfully grown and harvested Saffron but if you work out the minimum wage for picking Saffron filaments from a Crocus Sativus flower – yes, you are right, it’s not going to be good value. 

Saffron cannot be machine harvested, which makes it one of the most labour intensive and skilled forms of farming in the world as a heavy handed 6 fingered salt of the earth could potentially or definitely lose huge amounts of saffron = huge amounts of money.

When does it grow?

It’s an autumnal flowering plant, grown in largest amounts in Iran and flowering in October.  Many other countries grow Saffron as well but none have quantities close to the output of Iran and legend has it (by that I mean it is the truth but apparently we shouldn’t say it) most other countries just rebrand Persian Saffron as their own – if you are unsure you should check the total amount of Saffron exported from Spain each year vs the total amount of Saffron harvested in Spain each year…..yes I smell a big fat afternoon sleeping rat.

Why is Persian Saffron better than Spanish Saffron

? Everyone in Iran will tell you because of knowledge….but anyone with knowledge will tell you that the climate, soil, (Crocus Sativus needs a cold season as well) and extremely low labour costs makes Iran historically and currently the best place in the world for Saffron.  The darker the colour the better the Saffron, and look at real Spanish Saffron….it is red…oh no that is actually Persian Saffron….let’s try again, look at real Spanish Saffron……..it’s yellow tipped!

Should I buy 1g or 4.6g?

Why on earth would anyone buy anything in 4.6g and not 4g or 5g? Dates back to Ancient Persian History where 4.6g was known as a Mesghal, also it became something similar in Arabic, 4.25g is known as a Mithqal. Anyway, why would you buy 4.6g when 1g would last most people a year? Good Question…….much better to buy individual packets of 1g which will stay fresh.